Blank feeding and stopping mechanism



Dec. 15, 1936. w. w. DAVIDSON 2,064,521

BLANK FEEDING AND STOPPING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 5, 1935 Dec. 15, 1936.w. w. DAVIDSON BLANK FEEDING AND STOPPING MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 2'Filed Sept. 5, 1935 1% Qwadso/z Dec. 15, 1936. w. w. DAVIDSON 2,064,521

BLANK FEEDING AND STOPPING MECHANISM k v Filed Sept. 5, 1955 '4Sheets-Sheet -5 Mm W a- Dec. 15, 1936, w. w. DAVIDSON BLANK FEEDING ANDSTOPING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 5, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 JZUQ'ZZZW: 7 WardDaaadoio.

Patented Dec. 15, 1936 UNITED STATES 2,084,521 BLANK FEEDING ANDSTOPPING HAN! MEC

William Ward Davidson, Evanston, Ill.

Application September 5, 1935, Serial No. 39,278

9 Claims.

This invention relates to a mechanism for feeding blanks such as cardsetc., to a mechanism. such for instance as a photographic mechanism bywhich the blanks are operated upon one after another and has specialreference to a stop mechanism for such a machine.

A particular object of the invention is to cause the substantiallyinstantaneous stopping of the feeding of the blanks if and when two ormore blanks are simultaneously fed or when the fed blanks are notcompletelyseparated, that is when for some reason the blanks overlap tosome extent or if more than the thickness of a single blank is fed tothe mechanism.

A further object is to provide a mechanism arranged and adapted to beoperatively connected with and driven from a primary machine whichrequires blanks to be fed singly thereto and sufficiently separated thateach blankcan be operated upon individually.

A further object of the invention is to provide a mechanism for thepurpose mentioned, which shall be capable of being used either forautomatic or manual separation and feed of the blanks and the mechanismupon the passage through the feed rolls of any superposed or'overlappingblanks or sheets.

To the accomplishment of the above noted and other ends, the inventionconsists in the means hereinafter fully described and particularlypointed out in the appended claims, the, accompanying drawings formingpart of this specification setting forth in detail one embodimentexemplifying the invention. Such disclosed structure, however,exemplifies but one of various applications of the principal of theinvention.

In said drawings:

Figure 1, is a side elevation of a mechanism embodying the invention inone form and shown as arranged in conjunction with a primary machine towhich it is desired to successively feed single blanks;

Figure 2, is a fragmentary top plan view-of the feed mechanism andassociated primary inachine.

Figure 3A is a fragmentary, vertical longitudinal section on the line3-3 of Fig. 2, the parts of the mechanism being shown in normaloperating position;

Fig. 3B is a section similar to Fig. 3A but showing parts of themechanism as moved by the inadvertent simultaneous feeding of more thanone blank andeifecting the stopping of the mechanism;

Figure 4, is a fragmentary, vertical, transverse section on the line Hof Fig. 2;

Figure is a detail horizontal section on the line 5-5 of Fig.4; and

Figure 6, is a side elevation, particularly por-- traying the means fordriving the blank sep arator. v

In Fig. 1 of the drawings, a blank feeding mechanism designatedgenerally by the letter A is shown as associated with and mounted on orin connection with a primary machine designated generally by the letterB. As the primary machine may illustrate any machine which is adapted.to operate upon or in connection with blanks, such as cards, which mustbe fed thereto one at a time, it is not thought to be necessary todescribe the primary machine. except insofar as it may have parts whichco-operate, with the feeder A.

As shown in the drawings, the primary machine has a drum in which isrotated by.- means of an electric motor ll through the medium of a speedreducing mechanism including a belt l2 trained around a relatively largepulley l3 mounted on a shaft I4 and driven by the motor H and a secondbelt l5 trained around a small pulley IS in the shaft I4 and a largerpulley l1 mounted in connection with the drum Ill.

The drum I0 is carried on a shaft I8 which is mounted in suitablehearings on the frame of the primary machine.

The feeder A is driven'through the medium of the drum Ill of the primarymachine and this present invention relates particularly to relativelysimple means for stopping the feeder, while the rotate, upon theinadvertent simultaneous feeding of more than one blank or if the fedarticle is thicker than the thickness of a single blank as arranged for.

The primary machine B has a rigid frame inf eluding vertically arrangedside members i9 provided with horizontal rearwardly projectingbracket-like parts 20 and suitable cross members including aflat-plate-like cross bar 2| which i secured at its ends to the parts20.

drum III of the primary machine continues to This bar 2! is arranged atthe entrance end primary mach ne.

As shown and described, the feeder A is driven by the primary machinefor simplicity and for timing the operation of the feeder with theoperation of the primary machine, but obviously, the feeder could deriveits power from a source separate from the primary machine withoutchanging the principal of operation of the feeder.

As indicated hereinbefore the feeder may be arranged for manual feed ofthe blanks or may be provided with means for automatically separatingthe blanks from a stack and advancing them to and through the feeder tothe primary machine. But whether the blanks are manually orautomatically fed, the stop mechanism operates to stop the feeder uponthe inadvertent feeding of superposed blanks or the passage of more thanthe thickness arranged for.

The mechanism for advancing the blanks to the drum and for stopping theprogress of the blanks upon the passage of more than the thicknessarranged for will now be described.

The feeder A, see particularly Figs. 3A and 3B, is provided with blankguiding means comprising inclined guide bars 22 arranged longitudinallyof the machine and spaced apart transversely of the machine.

These guide bars, as best shown in Fig. 4, are

L-shaped, the horizontal flanges 23 thereof forming the support for thefed blanks as indicated at 24, Fig. 4, and the vertical flanges 25forming the guide to direct the blanks in the desired path toward thedrum In. These guide bars are pivotally mounted between their ends asindicated at 26 and theirdelivery ends 21 project over the drum I0 andare weighted to rest upon the drum. The delivery ends of the guides 22are provided with anti-friction rollers 28 to avoid any friction withthe drum l0. 0 The pivots 26 of the guide bars 22 are carried bybrackets 29 which depend from a rigid crossframe member 30. The brackets29 are each provided with a notch 3| to receive the bar 30 and with'aclamping screw 32 for securing the bracket in place on the bar 32. Bythis means the guides 22 can be readily adjusted transversely of themachine to accommodate blanks of different widths.

The rear end portions 33 of the guide bars 22 extend a suflicientdistance, so as to conveniently receive blanks fed thereto either byhand or automatically from a stack 34.

For driving the feeder a drive roller 35 is pro- .vided, mounted on atransversely extending shaft 36 and which roller normally contacts withthe drum l0 and is rotated thereby. ,The roller 35 is movable up anddown to a slight extent for the purpose of disengaging it from the drumto stop the feeder or to contact it with the drum to drive the feeder aswill'now be explained.

The roller 35 is secured to rotate with its shaft 36 and the shaft ismounted in bearings on a tilting frame comprising side bars 31 which aresecured at their rear. ends upon a transverse shaft or rod 38 as shownat 39, Fig. 2.

The frame of the feeder comprises side parts or plates and 4| which arerigidly mounted on'and rise above the side bracket parts 20 of the frameof the primary machine. These ,side parts 40 and 4| are secured at theirlower edges to longitudinally extending bars 42 and 43 respectively andwhich in turn are supported on and secured to posts 44 and 45 which aresecured to and rise from the brackets 20. The side plates 48 and 4 l arerigidly connected together by the cross bar 30 which is secured rigidlyat its ends to said plates by corner brackets 46, see Fig. 2.

The roller 35 which is driven by the drum I0 is yieldingly pressedagainst the drum by a tension spring 49, see Figs. 3A and 3B, the upperend of which engages the free end of a rod 50 rigidly mounted on a crossbar 5| by which the parts 31 of the roller carrying frame are rigidlyconnected. The bar 5| is positioned near the rear end of the frame ofthe roller 35 and the rod 50 projects toward the roller 35. The lowerend of the spring 49 is secured to a vertically adjustable member 52 sothat the tension of the spring and the consequent pressure of the roller35 on the drum l0 can be readily adjusted as may be required. The member52 as shown comprises a vertically extending rod secured at its upperend in a block 53 having a notch 54 in one edge to receive an edge ofthe cross bar '2| and adapted to be clamped on the bar 2| by a set screw55.

horizontally projecting part 51 to which the lower end of the spring 49is secured. The spring-49 is tensioned sufficiently to hold the roller35 against the drum H! with sufiicient pressure to properly drive thefeeder mechanism.

Below the guides 22 and between same there is arranged a corrugated feedroller 58 mounted on a transverse shaft 59 to rotate therewith. Theshaft 59 is mounted for rotation in suitable bearings on the side frameparts 40 and 4| of the feeder frame. The shaft 59 is rotated by a pinion60 secured on the feed roller shaft 59 which engages a toothed gear 6|secured on the friction roll shaft 36. The arrangement of the gearedconnection between the shafts 36 and 59 and the pivoted frame on whichthe roller 35 is mounted is such that the roller 35 can be lifted clearof the drum without interference from the gearing.

The feed roller .58 is positioned substantially midway transversely ofthe feeder and I provide yielding means for pressing the blanks againstthe feed roller to cause the blanks to be properly propelled. Thisyielding pressure means comprises a pair of transversely spaced pressurerollers 62 arranged above the feed roller 58 and the blanks are adaptedto be yieldingly pressed toward the feed roller. The blanks pass throughbetween the pressure rollers on topand the roller 58 on the bottom.These rollers are commonly known as the pull-out rolls. For mounting thepressure rollers 82, crank-arms 53 are secured on a transverse shaft 48and the rollers 62 are rotatably mounted on studs 64 secured in the freeends-of the crank arms. The crank arms 63 are secured against rotationon the shaft 48 as by a longitudinal key-way 65 in the shaft andsuitable splines carried by the cranks so as to permit ready adjustmentof the crank arms transversely of the feeder. The shaft 48 is rotatablymounted-in suitable hearings on the side frame parts, and 4| and at oneend the shaft is provided with a radially extending pin 66 engaged by atension spring 61, the other end of which is secured to a pin 68 rigidlysecured to the adjacent side frame part 4|. The arrangement is such thatthe pressure rollers 62 are yieldingly held pressed toward the-feedroller 53.

To stop the feeder I arrange means, controlled by the feeding of anyblank or article past the feed roller 58 which is thicker than thethickness of a single blank, for lifting the roller 35 free of the drumand thus stopping the application of the power to the feeder.

Loosely mountedfor rotation on the shaft 38 of 5 the contact roller 35,I arrange a cam plate 69.

This plate is in the form of a disk, the majorportion of the peripheryI8 of which is of less diameter than the roller 35 and consequently doesnot contact with the drum l8. At a suitable point in I 10 the peripheryI8 of the cam disk, I provide an in- Preferably this projecpower to thefeeder is stopped. Adjacent, to the v cam projection II I arrange ananti-friction roller 12 carried by the cam disk 89 and adapted tocontact with the drum l8 j'ust asthe cam projection 25 H is freed fromthe drum. This position is best illustrated in Fig. 3B.

The anti-friction roller 12 is mounted for free rotation on a stud I3secured to the'disk'lll and the periphery of the roller extends slightlyradially 30 beyond the cam projection II. so that as soon as the disk isrotated far enough to bring the roller into the position shown in Fig.3B the cam is entirely free of the drum l8. A stop projection is carriedby the disk 18 and is arranged town- 35 tact with a fixed frame part 15to stop the disk I8 just as the anti-friction roller 12 reaches theposition shown in Fig. 33 with the roller 35' out of contact with thedrum I8. For automatically rotating the cam disk to 40 efiect thestopping of the feeder, as above described, I provide a simple mechanismadapted to be-operated by the feeding of more than a single blank andconnected with the disk to r tate same, as follows:

4 Above the corrugated feed roll 58 there is provided a rock lever 16pivotally mounted between its ends at ll to swing back and forth in avertical plane. The lever I8 has a shoe 18 at its lower end opposed tothe feed roll 58 and adaptedto be I 5 spaced above the feed roll topermit the free passage of a single blank and to be engaged by a doubleblank or by any article which is thicker than asingle blank and be swungto the left, see Figs. 3A and 33, units pivot Tl. I

55 As will be explained the lever I8 is vertically adjustable toaccommodate blanks of different I thicknesses. The shoe 18 has a portionI9 which is concentric with the pivot I1 and a rear end 4 portion 88which is bent slightly upwardly or in- 0 wardly so as to. serve as aguide for the articles being fed to direct them between the shoe l8 andthe roller 58. After the lever 11 has been adjusted to provide a spacebetween the shoe and the roller just sumcient to permit a single blankto pass 65 freely, any article which is too thick to pass freely throughthe provided space, will cause the lower end 8| of the lever 16 m swingto the left as described.

i For mounting the pivot 11 of tin: lever "I8 there 70 is provided ablock 82 provided with a gap 83 for receiving the frame bar 38 and theblock 82 is rigidly secured in position by set screw 82'. A rod 84 ismounted in a vertical hole in said block and the lower end of the rod 84extends down becross bar 85. The pivot 11 of the lever 18 is mounted inone end of the cross bar 85 and the opposite end is provided with arigid up-standing guide rod 88 which slidingly fits in a vertical holein the block 82 to prevent the rod 84 turning around. The rod 84 isthreaded'at its upper end to receive adjustment and locking nuts 81 and88 and a coil spring 89 is mounted on the lower end of the rod betweenthe cross bar 85 and the block .82 to yieldingly retain the rod 84 atthe lower limit of its adjustment. The shoe 58 as thus held can yieldvertically, if occasion requires it to do so. I

The adjusting nut 81 is provided with very fine longitudinal grooves inits periphery adapted to be engaged by spring fingers 81' which aresecured to the block 82. This construction assists in the very flneadjustment of the shoe I8 in relation to the roll 58 and also permitsthe shoe to be lifted by hand to free any blanks which may be caughtbetween the feed roll and the shoe and without altering the adjustmentof the shoe.

To transmit motion from the lever I8 to the cam disk 18 there isprovided a transverse shaft 98, (see Fig. 4) which is mounted forrotation at one end in a suitable bearing-9i on the block 82,'

and at its' other end in a suitable bearing 92 formed on a bracket 93secured on the bar 38 adjacent to the side frame part 4 I. A dependingarm 94 is fixed on the shaft 98 adjacent to the bearing 9|, and theupper end 95 of the lever I5 is provided with a transversely extendingprojection 96 arranged and adapted to engage said arm 94 and swing sameto the right, as shown in Figs: 3A and 3B, when the lower end of thelever is swung to the left.

To operatively connect the shaft 90 with the cam disk I8 I'provide adepending arm 91 which is mounted on the shaft 98 and is secured theretoto rotate therewith, and a link 98 which is arranged to connect'the freeend of the arm 91 with the cam disk I8.

The lower end of the link 98 is pivotally. connected with the disk 18 bythe stop member 14 andto the free end of the arm 91 by a similarconnection 99.

The arrangementis such that when the arm 91 is swung back and forth thecam disk is oscillated on its supporting shaft 36. The arm 91 and thelink 98 form a toggle-link connection between the shaft 98 and the camdisk 18. In

: the normal operating position of,, the parts, as

shown in Fig. 3A, the toggle is bent and the cam disk is rotatedbackwards to hold the cam projection II and the roller I2 out of contactwith the drum l8, and when the lower or gauging end of which is rigidwith the arm 91 and by which ,the

toggle can be operated manually either to start the feeder or to stopit. The handle I88 serves as a clamping screw to secure the arm 91rigidly upon the shaft'98.

For the purpose of re-setting, the parts in operation position as soonas the lever 16 is free to swing back to normal operative position, apull spring I8l is connectedat one-end to the pivotal connection of thearm 91 and. link 98 and at its other end to a part rigid-with themachine frame "such as a projection I82 rigid withithe'block 82.

The arrangement is such that as soon as the lever I6 is free to swingback to normal operative position, the spring IOI breaks the toggle andreturns'the parts to normal feeding positions.

The automatic action of disconnecting the feeding mechanism from thesource of power and the stopping of the feeding mechanism is practicallyinstantaneous. This action is as follows:

When the forward edge of a double blank contacts with the shoe I8 of thegauge I6 it is guided between the shoe and the feed roll 58 thus liftingthe shoe against the action of the spring 89 and pinching the doubleblank between the shoe and the feed roll and this carries the shoe I8along with blanks, thus swinging the gauge lever and through theoperative connections described causing the rotational movement of thecam 69 which results in the dis-connection of the feeder from the sourceof power.

As the caliper or gauge lever I6 is thus limited in its movement, therear end of concentric part I9 of the shoe I8 is slightly relieved sothat as it is stopped in its swinging movement and has accomplished thedisconnecting of the feed roll 58 from the source of power it will nolonger pinch the article which caused the stopping. This is for thepurpose of preventing any possible further movement of the feed rollfrom crumpling the blanks between the roll and the shoe as these blanksare often valuable records which it is desired to preserve in thecondition they are in when presented to the mechanism.. As the cause ofthe stopping of the mechanism is usually the feeding of two blanks insuperposed relation and as these blanks are commonly but a fewthousandths of an inch thick, such relieving of the face of the shoe isso light as not to show distinctly in the drawings.

The separating and feeding mechanism shown in the drawings is typical ofany means which may be used for separating single blanks from the stack34 and starting them on their path to be fed into the primary machine.

As described, the feeding mechanism is stopped by the entrance betweenthe feed or pull-out roll 58 and the shoe I of the gauge lever 10 of anyarticle thicker than the thickness of the contemplated blanks and as thefeeder is substantially instantaneously stopped, the fed article, whichcaused the stopping, will remain between the pull-out r011 below and itspressure rolls and the shoe above. But as the shoe I8 is yieldingly heldagainst the feed roll the double blank or whatever effected the steppingof the feeder can be readily pulled out by hand.

The separator, as shown in the drawings, is provided with a supportingboard or plate I03 which is pivotally mounted on the side frame parts atI04. The board I03 extends across the machine and is capable of beingtilted up and down to cause the blanks-to slide down the board,

a pair of separator rolls I05 and I06 mounted on shafts I01 and I08respectively.

As shown in. the drawings the separator roll shaft I01 is driven througha train of gears I09 from a counter shaft I I0, which in turn is drivenfrom the feed roll shaft 59 through a chain III, the feed roll shaft 59and the counter shaft IIO being provided with suitable chain wheels.

It will now be clear that the blank separating mechanism is driven intime with the feed roll 58 and that when the feed roll 58 is stopped,the separating mechanism will also be stopped.

As shown the separator shaft I0! is operatively connected to the trainof gears through a clutch II2 so arranged that, when necessary. theseparator roll can be readily disconnected from the tearing so that ifdesired it can be easily turned backwa'rd.

What I now consider to be a preferable form of clutch for the purpose,is shown in Fig. 9 of my prior Patent No. 1,627,015, issued May 3, 1927,and described in the specification of said patent, beginning with line75 of page 7 of said patent and to which reference is here made for anunderstanding thereof without repetition herein. However, the clutch II2merely exemplifies any desired or approved clutch for the purpose.

As many modifications of the invention will readily suggest themselvesto one skilled in the art, I. do not limit or'conflne the invention tothe specific details of construction and operation, nor to the specificcombinations of devices and mechanisms herein shown and described exceptwithin the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In the combination of a primary machine and a feeder for feedingblanks thereto, the machine having a continuously rotating member, thefeeder provided with a friction roller arranged and adapted to bepressed against said member for operating said feeder, the feederprovided with a blank gauge and a cooperating blank feeding roll, thegauge having a part normally spaced from the associated roll to permitthe free passage of a blank of contemplated thickness, the guage beingpivotally mounted and adapted to be swung out of normal position by thepassage of anything thicker than the contemplated thickness, andoperative connection between said gauge and said friction roller formoving the friction roller out'of contact with said rotating member ofthe primary machine when the gauge is so swung.

2. In a blank feeder of the kind described, a

feed roll, means for rotating said feed roll com-.

prising a constantly rotating member of a primary machine with which thefeeder is associated, the feeder having a friction roll; means forholding the friction roll in operative contact with said rotatingmember, a blank gauge associated .with said feed roll arranged andadapted to permit blanks of contemplated thickness to pass freelythrough the feeder, but to be moved by the attempted passage of anythingthicker than said blanks, and means operatively connecting said blankgauge with said friction roll for moving same out of contact with saidrotating member when the gauge is so moved the arrangement being suchthat the friction roller is automatically reengaged with the constantlyrotating member of the primary machine upon the removal of the extrathickness from between the blank gauge and the associated feed roll.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2, the

gauge being adjustable from and toward the feed from the feed rollwithout disturbing its adjust;

ment.

5. The invention as defined in claim 2, the means for moving thefriction roll out of contact with the rotating member comprising arotatable cam member associated with the friction roll, and operativeconnection between the cam and the v blank gauge for rotating said camwhen the gauge is moved.

6. The invention as defined in claim 2, the

gauge comprising a rocking lever, and the means for moving the frictionroll out of contact with the rotating member comprising a rotatable cammember mounted concentric with the friction roll and having a camprojection extending radially beyond the periphery of'said friction rolland adapted to be rotated to force the friction roll out of contact withthe rotating member, the cam member having an anti-friction rollarranged and adapted to be held in contact with the rotating member whenthe friction roll is free thereof, and operative connection between saidrocking lever and said cam member for moving the cam into operativeposition when the lever is rocked.

'7. The invention as defined in claim 2, the means for moving thefriction roll out of contact with the rotating member including a togglearranged to be normally in bent condition and to be straightened toeffect the disconnecting movement of the friction roll, and means formenu-- ally operating the toggle.

8. The invention as defined in claim 2, the means for moving thefriction roll out of contact with the rotating member including arotatable cam member mounted concentric with said friction roll andhaving a cam projectionv extending radially beyond the periphery of thefriction roll,

and a toggle member interposed between the cam member and the blankgauge and arranged to be normally bent, and to be straightened by thegauge when same is'moved to rotate the cam member, and means normallyyieldingly retaining the toggle in bent condition.

9. The invention as defined in claim 2, the operative connection betweenthe blank gauge and the friction roll, includinga rock shaft, a rigidprojection on the rock shaft adapted to be engaged by the gauge and tobe moved to rock the shaft upon the movement of the gauge due to theattempted passage through the feeder of any article thicker than the.contemplated blanks, a second arm rigid with the rock shaft, a rotatablecam member mounted concentric with the friction roll, a cam projectiononthe cam member extending radially beyond the periphery of the frictionroll, a link connecting the free end of the said second arm with the cammember and adapted torotate the cam to force the friction roll away fromsaid rotating member when the gauge is moved, a stop for limiting therotationalv movement of the cam member, and an anti-friction rollercarried by the cam member and adapted to contact with the rotatingmember when the cam member is held by said stop.

WM. WARD DAVIDSON.

